extrajudicial killingshttp://ekklesia.co.uk/taxonomy/term/3085/all
enBrazilian Truth Commission seeks justice for victims of miltary rulehttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/21150
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<p>The final report of Brazil’s National Truth Commission has been hailed as an historic step towards justice for victims of the county's military dictatorship.</p>
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<p>The presentation of the final report of Brazil’s National Truth Commission (Comissão Nacional da Verdade, CNV) on 10 December marks an historic step in the country’s efforts to obtain justice for crimes against humanity and other violations during the military dictatorship that took power five decades ago, says Amnesty International.</p>
<p>The commission spent two years investigating the thousands of cases of torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and other violations dating back to the period of military rule in Brazil from 1964-1985.</p>
<p>Since 1979, an Amnesty Law covering political crimes has been used as a means of protecting members of the former military government from being put on trial for serious human rights violations.</p>
<p>Unlike many of its South American neighbours, Brazil has not brought to justice those accused of gross human rights violations committed during past periods of military rule. Coming almost three decades after the dictatorship ended, the CNV report is one of the country’s most important transitional justice initiatives so far.</p>
<p>Atila Roque, Director of Amnesty International Brazil, said: “By showing the widespread nature of human rights violations committed by state agents during the military dictatorship and recognising them as crimes against humanity, the National Truth Commission’s final report paves the way to ensure the Amnesty Law will not be an obstacle to investigating these crimes.</p>
<p>“Fifty years after the coup that set up the authoritarian regime, it’s vital that Brazil brings to justice those responsible for the serious human rights violations of the past. We must break the past cycle of impunity that fuels ongoing torture, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances in the present.</p>
<p>“Brazil’s armed forces must acknowledge their responsibility for the abuses committed during the military dictatorship. The CNV’s investigations have clearly established that there was an apparatus of repression as part of state policy that spanned several governments and was devised at the highest levels of the armed forces and the executive branch. The commission’s decision to hold the authoritarian regime’s leadership responsible is an important milestone towards obtaining justice for this period.”</p>
<p>The CNV’s findings reinforce a 2010 Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling and shine a light on Brazil’s failures to comply with its obligations. It makes important recommendations about the demilitarisation of Brazil’s military police, the independence of legal expertise and medical institutes relied on for public security, the strengthening of public defenders and improvements in the prison system to guarantee prisoners’ rights. The report also recommends the further development of Brazilian legislation to codify crimes against humanity and enforced disappearance, important milestones in international law to protect human rights.</p>
<p>Atila Roque added: “The National Truth Commission’s report shows clearly how impunity for past violations has fuelled the cycle of violence today and amplifies the country’s collective response of ‘Never Again’ to the mass violations of human rights during the authoritarian regime.”</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticeEconomy and PoliticsNews BriefAmnesty Internationalbrazilcrimes against humanitydisappearancesextrajudicial killingsimpunityinternational lawmilitary dictatorshiptortureWorld NewsFri, 12 Dec 2014 18:07:54 +0000agency reporter21150 at http://ekklesia.co.ukSyrian conference must not ignore 'industrial scale' killingshttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/19988
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<p>The Geneva 2 conference on Syria must seek full access to investigate allegations that 11,000 people have been tortured and killed in detention, says Amnesty.</p>
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<p>World leaders at the Geneva 2 peace conference on Syria must demand full access to investigate allegations that 11,000 people have been tortured and killed while in detention in the country and monitor conditions in detention, said Amnesty International. </p>
<p>A report by former war crimes prosecutors and forensic experts is based on documents and thousands of still images of what appear to be the bodies of dead prisoners. The material was smuggled out of the country by a defected military police photographer. The photographs cover the period from the start of the uprising in 2011 until August 2013. </p>
<p>“The Geneva 2 peace conference must treat this as an absolute priority. Concrete steps must be taken to respond to the scale of the horrific human rights situation in detention centres and the country in general,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Director. </p>
<p>“World leaders must demand that the Commission of Inquiry and other human rights bodies be granted immediate access to all places of detention – formal and informal – in Syria. </p>
<p>“The allegations are consistent with aspects of Amnesty International’s own research into torture and enforced disappearance by the Syrian government and must be taken seriously. </p>
<p>“If confirmed, these would be crimes against humanity committed on a staggering scale. It certainly raises the question once again why the Security Council has not yet referred the situation in Syria to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.” </p>
<p>The document, entitled <em>A Report into the credibility of certain evidence with regard to Torture and Execution of Persons Incarcerated by the current Syrian Regime</em>, says that approximately 55,000 images of some 11,000 people have been made available outside Syria. </p>
<p>One of the report’s authors, Sir Desmond de Silva QC told UK newspaper The Guardian that the evidence “documented industrial-scale killing”. </p>
<p>The images were smuggled out of Syria by a defected military police photographer, referred to only as Caesar, who said that he photographed up to 50 bodies a day to allow death certificates to be produced and to confirm that the executions had been carried out. </p>
<p>“The report raises serious concerns over the safety of the thousands of individuals, including peaceful activists, currently held in state-run detention centres and those subjected to enforced disappearance,” said Philip Luther. </p>
<p>“Geneva II must demand the disclosure of the whereabouts and fate of all persons subjected to enforced disappearance, secret detention or abductions, including civilians, soldiers, fighters and suspected informers. </p>
<p>”The Syrian government must treat all detainees humanely and must immediately and unconditionally release all peaceful activists held solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association. Others in custody should be released unless they are promptly charged with recognisable criminal offences and referred to trials that comply with international standards. Anyone deprived of their liberty must be given immediate access to their family, lawyers and medical attention.” </p>
<p>Geneva 2 must also act on the torture and summary killings carried out by armed opposition groups. Individuals have been targeted on the basis of their religious affiliation and perceived loyalty to the government, as have suspected informers and members and fighters belonging to rival armed opposition groups, says the global human rights NGO.</p>
<p>Last week, Amnesty International urged those involved in the Geneva II conference to end the starvation of besieged civilians, which should continue to be a priority alongside the safety of detainees. </p>
<p>The Geneva 2 conference which aims to end the Syrian conflict opens in Montreux on Wednesday 22 January and continues two days later in Geneva. </p>
<p>* More on Syria from Ekklesia: <a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/" title="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/">http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/</a></p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticePeace and WarNews BriefAmnesty Internationalextrajudicial killingsSyriasyriantorturewar crimesWorld NewsTue, 21 Jan 2014 20:39:04 +0000agency reporter19988 at http://ekklesia.co.ukAlarm at torture and summary killings by armed group in Syriahttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/19705
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<p>Torture, flogging and summary killings are rife in secret prisons run by the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham, an armed group controlling swathes of northern Syria.</p>
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<p>Torture, flogging and summary killings are rife in secret prisons run by the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), an armed group that controls large areas of northern Syria.</p>
<p>The claim is made by global human rights NGO Amnesty International in a briefing published on 18 December 2013.</p>
<p>ISIS, which claims to apply strict Shari’a (Islamic law) in areas it controls, has ruthlessly flouted the rights of local people. In the 18-page briefing, entitled Rule of fear: ISIS abuses in detention in northern Syria, Amnesty International identifies seven detention facilities that ISIS uses in al-Raqqa governorate and Aleppo. </p>
<p>“Those abducted and detained by ISIS include children as young as eight who are held together with adults in the same cruel and inhuman conditions,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa. </p>
<p>Former detainees describe a shocking catalogue of abuses in which they or others were flogged with rubber generator belts or cables, tortured with electric shocks or forced to adopt a painful stress position known as aqrab (scorpion), in which a detainee’s wrists are secured together over one shoulder. </p>
<p>Some of those held by ISIS are suspected of theft or other crimes; others are accused of alleged “crimes” against Islam, such as smoking cigarettes or zina, sex outside marriage. Others were seized for challenging ISIS’s rule or because they belonged to rival armed groups opposed to the Syrian government. ISIS is also suspected of abducting and detaining foreign nationals, including journalists covering the fighting in Syria.</p>
<p>Several children were among detainees who received severe floggings, according to testimonies obtained by Amnesty International. On one occasion, an anguished father had to endure screams of pain as ISIS captors tormented his son in a nearby room. Two detainees related how they witnessed a child of about 14 receive a flogging of more than 90 lashes during interrogation at Sadd al-Ba’ath, an ISIS prison in al-Raqqa governorate. Another child of about 14 who ISIS accused of stealing a motorbike was repeatedly flogged over several days. </p>
<p>“Flogging anyone, let alone children, is cruel and inhuman, and a gross abuse of human rights,” said Philip Luther. “ISIS should cease its use of flogging and other cruel punishments.”</p>
<p>Amnesty International is calling on ISIS to end its appalling treatment of detainees and for the group’s leaders to instruct their forces to respect human rights and abide by international humanitarian law.</p>
<p>Several former detainees told the organisation that they were seized by masked gunmen who took them to undisclosed locations, where they were held for periods of up to 55 days. Some never learnt where they were but Amnesty International has identified ISIS prisons at seven locations: Mabna al-Mohafaza, Idarat al-Markabat and al-Mer’ab, all in al-Raqqa city; Sadd al Ba’ath and al-‘Akershi oil facility, both elsewhere in al-Raqqa governorate; and Mashfa al-Atfal and Maqar Ahmed Qaddour in Aleppo. </p>
<p>The Sadd al-Ba’ath prison is beside a dam on the Euphrates River at al-Mansura, where the local Shari’a court judge, who invariably appeared wearing an explosives belt, has instituted a reign of terror over its detainees. </p>
<p>Former detainees accuse him of presiding over grotesquely unfair 'trials' lasting no more than a few minutes as other detainees look on, and handing down death penalties which are subsequently carried out. At his direction, detainees have been mercilessly flogged; on at least one occasion, he is said to have personally joined in the flogging. </p>
<p>At al-‘Akershi oil facility, which ISIS also appears to use as a military training ground, detainees were subjected to the aqrab as a means of torture, according to the testimonies of two men who were held there in recent months. One spent 40 days in solitary confinement, for part of which he was chained up in a tiny room full of electrical equipment with fuel on the floor.</p>
<p>“After years in which they were prey to the brutality of the al-Assad regime, the people of al-Raqqa and Aleppo are now suffering under a new form of tyranny imposed on them by ISIS, in which arbitrary detention, torture and executions have become the order of the day,” said Philip Luther. </p>
<p>Amnesty International is calling on the international community to take concrete steps to block the flow of arms and other support to ISIS and other armed groups implicated in committing war crimes and other serious human rights abuses. </p>
<p>“The Turkish government, in particular, should prevent its territory being used by ISIS to bring in arms and recruits to Syria,” added Mr Luther. </p>
<p>“As well, Gulf states that have voiced support for the armed groups fighting against the Syrian government should take action to prevent arms flows, equipment or other support reaching ISIS in view of its appalling human rights record.”</p>
<p>Amnesty has also renewed its call to the Syrian government to allow unfettered access to Syria by the independent international Commission of Inquiry and by international humanitarian and human rights organisations, and to end its violations of human rights and international law, including the use of torture in its own detention centres.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticePeace and WarNews BriefAmnesty Internationalexecutionsextrajudicial killingsSyriasyriantortureWorld NewsThu, 19 Dec 2013 04:11:57 +0000agency reporter19705 at http://ekklesia.co.ukUK and US drone attacks to be investigated by United Nationshttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/17869
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<p>A United Nations investigation into targeted killings will examine the legality of drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.</p>
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<p>A United Nations investigation into targeted killings will examine the legality of drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.</p>
<p>A group of states, including Pakistan, and two permanent members of the UN Security Council, called for the inquiry - which could raise issues of war crimes.</p>
<p>A prominent UK lawyer, Ben Emmerson QC, will lead the investigation, the UN announced this morning (24 January 2013). </p>
<p>Research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism indicates that drone strikes between June 2004 and September 2012 killed between 2,562 and 3,325 people in Pakistan, of whom between 474 and 881 were civilians, including 176 children.</p>
<p>Ben Emmerson QC, a UN special rapporteur, said that some of the legal issues raised by unmanned drones could equally raise issues about manned deployments. </p>
<p>But he told the BBC at lunchtime today that "the frequency and ease with which [drones] can be resorted to", plus large numbers of casualties, and targets specifically situated in high density civilian areas, that caused, which had immediately provoked the complaints and the investigation. </p>
<p>The full scope of the review will include checks on military use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in UK operations in Afghanistan, US strikes in Pakistan, as well as in the Sahel region of Africa where the conflict in Mali has erupted. </p>
<p>It will also take on board evidence on Israeli drone attacks in Palestinian territories, Mr Emmerson confirmed.</p>
<p>Some 20 or 30 strikes, selected as representative of different types of attacks, will be studied to assess the extent of any civilian casualties, the identity of militants targeted and the legality of strikes in countries where the UN has not formally recognised that there is a conflict.</p>
<p>Mr Emmerson has previously suggested that some drone attacks, particularly those known as "double tap" strikes where rescuers going to the aid of a first blast have become victims of a follow-up strike, could possibly constitute a "war crime".</p>
<p>Christian peace campaigner Chris Cole, a former General Secretary of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in England, is among those who have persistently raised, questioned, and worked against UK involvement in drone attacks. </p>
<p>Until recently, the USA officially denied that it was even using drones, despite clear evidence to the contrary. </p>
<p>* Drone Wars UK: <a href="http://dronewarsuk.wordpress.com/" title="http://dronewarsuk.wordpress.com/">http://dronewarsuk.wordpress.com/</a></p>
<p>* DronesWatch background information: <a href="http://droneswatch.org/2013/01/23/everything-we-know-so-far-about-drone-strikes/" title="http://droneswatch.org/2013/01/23/everything-we-know-so-far-about-drone-strikes/">http://droneswatch.org/2013/01/23/everything-we-know-so-far-about-drone-...</a></p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Economy and PoliticsPeace and WarNews Briefdronesextrajudicial killingsinternational lawlawlegalpakistanunited nationsWorld NewsThu, 24 Jan 2013 13:43:23 +0000staff writers17869 at http://ekklesia.co.ukSwift investigation needed over Kurdish activists killed in Parishttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/17773
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<p>The investigation into the gunning down of three Kurdish women activists in Paris must be prompt and thorough, Amnesty International says.</p>
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<p>The investigation into the gunning down of three Kurdish women activists in Paris must be prompt and thorough, Amnesty International says.</p>
<p>Sakine Cansiz, a founder of the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez were found shot dead at the Kurdistan Information Office on the evening of 9 January 2012.</p>
<p>“There must be justice for these apparently political killings – no stone must be left unturned in the investigation by the French authorities,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director for Amnesty, the global human rights NGO.</p>
<p>“The Turkish authorities must cooperate fully in the investigation to bring those responsible to justice,” he added. </p>
<p>The killings come at time when the Government of Turkey and the PKK have begun peace negotiations.</p>
<p>“Both sides must ensure that the killings do not derail negotiations aimed at ending the decades long conflict and ongoing human rights abuses,” said Mr Dalhuisen.</p>
<p>As many as 40,000 people are thought to have died since 1984 when armed clashes between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces began. </p>
<p>The conflict has also resulted in widespread human rights abuses, both in the Kurdish dominated south-east and across the country.</p>
<p>The PKK has called for autonomy for the Kurds as part of a package of demands. </p>
<p>In recent years armed clashes between the armed forces and the PKK have increased despite faltering attempts at negotiations.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticeEconomy and PoliticsNews BriefAmnesty Internationalextrajudicial killingskillingskurdkurdistankurdsshootingsWorld NewsFri, 11 Jan 2013 17:59:32 +0000agency reporter17773 at http://ekklesia.co.ukAssassin verdict highlights risks faced by Russian journalistshttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/17629
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<p>Journalist and human rights defender Anna Politkovskaya, known for her critical reports from Chechnya, was gunned down in back in 2006.</p>
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<p>The conviction of the killer of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya is welcome progress, but prosecutors must not rest until those who masterminded the assassination are brought to justice, says Amnesty International. </p>
<p>The news of the verdict came the day before Russia's Remembrance Day for Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty.</p>
<p>Former police officer Dmitry Pavliutchenkov was found guilty and sentenced today to 11 years in a high security penal colony. </p>
<p>The trial of five other accomplices who worked with Pavliutchenkov to observe and assassinate Politkovskaya is expected to begin in March next year. </p>
<p>“While we welcome today’s verdict and the long-awaited prosecutions of Anna Politskovskaya’s killers, this case can never truly be closed until those who ordered her murder are named and brought to justice,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Director for Europe and Central Asia.</p>
<p>A journalist and human rights defender known for her critical reports from Chechnya, Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down in the elevator of her building on 7 October 2006. </p>
<p>“We are urging prosecutors to keep digging up the truth, no matter how politically inconvenient,” said John Dalhuisen. </p>
<p>Despite a special plea bargain to give evidence against those who ultimately ordered the killing, Pavliutchenkov only named two opposition exile figures in what Politkovskaya’s family have called a ‘politically motivated’ testimony.</p>
<p>The family’s lawyers plan to appeal, calling for Pavliutchenkov to be given a longer sentence.</p>
<p>Amnesty is calling for better protection of journalists and human rights defenders in Russia, and an end to restrictions on freedom of expression. </p>
<p>Since Politkovskaya’s death, journalists and human rights defenders have continued to face attacks and threats, and have been killed with impunity.</p>
<p>Recent restrictive initiatives have included the re-criminalization of libel, and the introduction of a bill by a government MP which would limit coverage of ‘negative information’ in the media. This could amount to censorship and undue restriction on the right to access to information.</p>
<p>“The Russian government’s toxic habit of silencing those with dissenting or critical views has to stop,” said John Dalhuisen.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Economy and PoliticsLife and DeathNews BriefassassinationChechnyaextrajudicial killingsjournalismjournalistsmediaRussiaWorld NewsSun, 16 Dec 2012 00:01:02 +0000agency reporter17629 at http://ekklesia.co.ukCongolese churches issue a 'cry of distress' over warhttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/16909
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<p>Protestant churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo have issued a "cry of distress" following increased killing and displacement of civilians.</p>
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<p>Protestant churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo have issued a "cry of distress" following increased killing and displacement of civilians in the fighting between the army and rebels in the eastern parts of the country - <em>writes Fredrick Nzwili</em>.</p>
<p>The churches, speaking as the Church of Christ of Congo (Église du Christ au Congo-ECC), said more than 30,000 people had been displaced in North Kivu Province in the three months fighting between the March 23 Movement (M23) and the Congolese army, the FADRC (Forces Armees de la Republique Democratique du Congo).</p>
<p>Hundreds of people have been killed, according to various reports, but exact numbers are difficult to ascertain. More than 15,000 have sought refuge in Rwanda and Uganda, according to the churches.</p>
<p>"We denounce these wars and the attempt by the rebels to balkanize our country," said the Rev Josue' Bulambo Lembelembe, a vice-president of the Church of Christ in Congo in North Kivu in a statement on 4 August 2012.</p>
<p>The latest fighting started in April following disagreements over a 2009 accord that integrated the rebels into the national army. Army officers mutinied and formed M23.</p>
<p>Since 1994, an estimated six million people have died in meaningless wars, the churches said. Currently, nearly two million people are displaced in DRC and millions are at the mercy of militias who kill, rape and loot, according to Oxfam, a UK charity.</p>
<p>"Help us. Help our population recover peace. We want unity. These populations say no to violence … [and] the illegal exploitation of our resources," said Bulambo.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the US-based Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) issued an action alert which asks people to send emails or calls to US President Barack Obama urging him to address the root cause of the war.</p>
<p>MCC said it is preparing emergency food assistance for 1,000 families in South and North Kivu. It has provided tarpaulins for 400 families and paid school fees for 300 children early this year.</p>
<p>"I was deeply affected by the lack of resources to meet basic human needs, such as food and water," Ruth Keidel Clemens, MCC US programme director said in a news release.</p>
<p>"Many of the children appeared to have medical needs with no means to address them. We observed traumatised and exhausted families. These are some of the visible signs of a forgotten war that continues to uproot and kill thousands of people in eastern Congo," she said.</p>
<p>ECC says it wants to start peace negotiation with the warring factions while calling for an urgent delivery of relief aid.</p>
<p>[With acknowledgements to ENInews. <a href="http://www.eni.ch/">ENInews</a>, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Peace and WarNews BriefcongoDemocratic Republic of Congoextrajudicial killingsMennonite Central CommitteeWorld NewsThu, 09 Aug 2012 22:53:19 +0000ENInews16909 at http://ekklesia.co.ukJournalists dying for the truth in Mexicohttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/16541
<p><a href="http://ekklesia.co.uk/node/16541" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Crime and JusticeEconomy and PoliticsNews BriefcafodCatholic Fund for Overseas Developmentdrugsextrajudicial killingsjournalismmediaMexicomurderBlogMon, 16 Apr 2012 13:05:53 +0000Pascale Palmer16541 at http://ekklesia.co.ukMurder of priest in Philippines revises campaign against political killingshttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/15692
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<p>The killing of a well-loved priest in southern Philippines has inspired the revival of a campaign to end political killings, church workers say.</p>
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<p>The killing of a well-loved priest in southern Philippines has inspired the revival of a campaign to end political killings, supported by international faith and human rights groups, church workers say - <em>writes Maurice Malanes</em>.</p>
<p>"Those behind the killing of Father Fausto Tentorio may have wanted to create a chilling effect on those committed to the cause of peace and justice. But the impact was otherwise," Sister Elsa Compuesto, executive secretary of the Sisters Association of Mindanao, told ENInews in an interview. </p>
<p>Tentorio, aged 59, an Italian Catholic priest, was gunned down at his church's compound in Arakan, North Cotabato on 17 October 2011. </p>
<p>He was the third member of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions slain in southern Philippines since 1985 and the third church worker killed under President Benigno Aquino's two-year-old government. Aquino has promised a thorough probe of Tentorio's killing, but no one has been arrested so far.</p>
<p>"A 'Justice for Father Pops [Tentorio's nickname] Movement' now sustains the advocacy against political killings in which nobody has been arrested," said the nun, who collaborated with Tentorio on community health programs. Compuesto noted that 90 priests and bishops along with 3,000 parishioners came to the final Mass for Tentorio besides about 15,000, mostly indigenous people, who joined the funeral march in Kidapawan City.</p>
<p>Compuesto said the rising movement is the parishioners' way of seeking justice for a missionary "who ate and slept with them, spoke their dialect, and facilitated their community programmes."</p>
<p>Assigned to the Diocese of Kidapawan in 1980, Tentorio ran the diocese-based Tribal Filipino Community Development Inc., setting up 47 daycare centers in the town of Arakan and 23 in the rural areas of Kitaotao and Compostela Valley and in Davao Oriental province.</p>
<p>As board member of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, an ecumenical group, Tentorio also collaborated with Compuesto in supporting community-based health programs that tap indigenous herbal medicines in communities hardly reached by government health personnel.</p>
<p>Other church leaders said Tentorio's fate brought into focus other political killings under the Aquino administration. Supreme Bishop Ephraim Fajutagana of the Philippine Independent Church (PIC) cited the still unresolved June 2010 killing of Benjamin Bayles, a PIC member and human rights worker.</p>
<p>Along with Tentorio and Bayles, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and other ecumenical groups have also been seeking justice for Rabenio Sungit, a lay leader of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, who was gunned down on 5 September in Palawan.</p>
<p>Karapatan, an independent human rights group, said the killing of these three church workers were only a fraction of 60 other political killings of activists and indigenous leaders during Aquino's administration.</p>
<p>Ecumenical groups such as the NCCP have continued to write petitions and letters to the president and other concerned officials as they hold public rallies, prayer vigils and continue to seek pressure from other global faith organizations.</p>
<p>In separate letters to Aquino recently, the Germany-based independent Action Network Human Rights-Philippines, the United Evangelical Mission (an international community of 34 churches in Africa, Asia and Germany), and the Bodelschwingh Foundation Bethel have also expressed concern over the killing of Tentorio and other political killings.</p>
<p>[With acknowledgements to ENInews. <a href="http://www.eni.ch/">ENInews</a>, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.]</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticeNews Briefextrajudicial killingskillingsphilippinesWorld NewsWed, 09 Nov 2011 23:08:28 +0000ENInews15692 at http://ekklesia.co.ukObama and Osama: A story for kids?http://ekklesia.co.uk/node/14724
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<p>Explaining to children the irrationality of adult behaviour is always challenging, says Sande Ramage. But in the case of the killing of Osama Bun Laden it is almost an impossibility.</p>
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<p>"Mum", said Freddy, his face screwed up in concern as he watched President Obama announcing the death of Osama bin Laden, "if I'm bad will I be killed too?" </p>
<p>Like parents and teachers all over the world Mary was at a loss. "Tell me", she said as we sat at her kitchen table, "how I explain to my kids that what I've tried to teach them about justice is completely contrary to how the most powerful man in the world acts? Tell me how I explain that this killing is good for us, how it somehow makes the whole world a better place and is not an act of international thuggery?"</p>
<p>The contrast between what we say we want and what we do irritates at an individual level most days. A white lie here, a cover up of behaviour we're not proud of there are the inconsistencies of human existence. To see these enacted on the international stage makes us uncomfortable, as the Archbishop of Canterbury said this week.</p>
<p>Freddy edged up to his mum looking for the comfort her lap would provide. She held him close, breathing in his boy scent. This was her testosterone-fuelled rocket in the making who needed more than political side stepping right now.</p>
<p>"You know that time when you were hitting Ben in the backyard because he'd tried to hurt you?" </p>
<p>"Yeah", he mumbled as she stroked his hair. "And you went on hitting and hitting even when I told you to stop?" </p>
<p> "Mmm". </p>
<p> "What did you tell me about how it made you feel?"</p>
<p>"It was awesome, cos I felt like I'd made him hurt for what he'd done to me."</p>
<p>"And we talked about how there were other ways to fix problems didn't we?"</p>
<p>"Yep and then I got grounded and felt like it was kind of unfair seeing as he started it."</p>
<p>Mary laughed. "Honey, you've no idea how much you sounded like the President of the United States just then."</p>
<p>"But mum that's different. He's the President. Can't he do anything he wants?"</p>
<p>"No he can't. There are laws in the world that we're all meant to go along with and if we break them we can be called to a court to explain our actions. A bit like we try and do at home when things go wrong. Everyone gets to tell their story and then we decide on what happens."</p>
<p>"Did the Osama man break those rules?"</p>
<p>"Yes Freddy, he did and the right thing was to get him to court to explain why he hurt other people." </p>
<p>"Then why didn't the President take him to court mum?"</p>
<p>"I don't know Freddy", Mary replied. He slipped off her lap, content for now until the next confusing adult assault on his worldview.</p>
<p>Explaining to kids the irrationality of adult behaviour is challenging, but in Obama's case it's almost an impossibility as the killing looks, according to Geoffrey Robertson, QC, "increasingly like a cold-blooded assassination order by a president who, as a former law professor, knows the absurdity of his statement that “justice was done”'.</p>
<p><em>This article also appeared on Pray the News (<a href="http://www.praythenews.org.nz/" title="http://www.praythenews.org.nz/">http://www.praythenews.org.nz/</a>)</em></p>
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<p>(c) <strong>Sande Ramage</strong>, from Wairarapa, New Zealand, is an Anglican priest who explores spirituality in a way that is "not restricted by institutional religion". She is an Ekklesia partner. This article is republished with grateful acknowledgements from her blog: <a href="http://www.spiritedcrone.com/" title="http://www.spiritedcrone.com/">http://www.spiritedcrone.com/</a> Sande can also be followed on Twitter at: <a href="http://twitter.com/spiritedcrone" title="http://twitter.com/spiritedcrone">http://twitter.com/spiritedcrone</a></p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Community and FamilyLife and DeathPeace and WarPeople and PowerNews BriefassassinationBarack Obamachildrenextrajudicial killingskillingkillingsmoral of the storyosama bin ladenCulture and ReviewSun, 08 May 2011 14:40:56 +0000Sande Ramage14724 at http://ekklesia.co.ukChurches' delegation probes extrajudicial killings in the Philippineshttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/13741
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<p>A senior Philippine official has confirmed a report on extra-judicial killings suggesting that most of this year's crimes have not been properly addressed.</p>
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<p>“Good intentions are not enough,” said the secretary of the Philippine Department of Justice, Leila de Lima, during a meeting with the World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation currently visiting the Philippines. She met with the 'Living Letters' team on Friday 3 December 2010.</p>
<p>The group of church representatives from Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and Canada visited the Philippines, 1-5 December, with the aim of looking at the current human rights situation in that country. They spoke with the justice secretary prior to an encounter with participants in a hunger strike supporting parties involved in the "Morong 43" case.</p>
<p>The Morong 43 have been detained since February following their arrest during a workshop sponsored by an alliance of health workers in Morong, Rizal province. Authorities have claimed the health workers possessed firearms and explosives, but the detainees insist the evidence against them was planted.</p>
<p>De Lima has presented arguments in favour of the detainees’ release, and she told the Living Letters delegation that she will issue a second memorandum soon, re-stating her position in the hope that it will bring about a positive solution for the prisoners and their families.</p>
<p>She confirmed a report on extra-judicial killings in the Philippines suggesting that most such crimes committed this year have never been properly addressed. She stated her intention of forming a special commission of the department of justice with the mandate to investigate extra-judicial killings. “This will be a response to the many cases not given enough attention, and a way of breaking the culture of injustice that prevails,“ she said.</p>
<p>De Lima continued, “The best intentions are there, but we need actions that will bring an end to all the human rights violations and extra-judicial killings.“</p>
<p>“We look for more international calls to pay attention to this current situation, for dialogues and international public statements of support in relation to the present human rights situation and all forms of injustice against the Filipino people,” the Secretary of Justice said at the conclusion of the meeting.</p>
<p>Some members of the delegation then visited the defendants in the Morong 43 case, who for the past 10 months have been detained in Camp Bagong Diwa. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, farmers of the Hacienda Luisita community received other members of the WCC sponsored delegation. The farmers have been demanding land rights promised to them for the past fifty years.</p>
<p>Hacienda Luisita is in the central plains of Luzon. The land has been owned and controlled by the powerful Cojuangco family since 1957. T he current president, Benigno Cojuangco Aquino III, belongs to this family. Hacienda Luisita comprises 6,435 hectares of sugar cane plantations. Although the Cojuangco family took over the property on an understanding that the land would be given back to farmers after a period of 10 years, this has not happened and there is no sign that it will happen soon.</p>
<p>In a general strike in November 2004, the farmers of Cojuangco Hacienda Luisita united with sympathizers in peaceful protest, calling for an end to the injustices committed against them. The protest involved about 5,000 farmers. On 16 November 2004 seven farmers were killed and more than 100 wounded when the military dispersed the protesters. Six other farmers were killed during 2005 and 2006.</p>
<p>Talking to the delegation, farmers explained that they are compelled to work in a sugar mill, are paid the paltry sum of 9.5 Filipino pesos per day, and are allowed to work only once a week. This has a serious impact on their livelihoods and families.</p>
<p>In addition to their current struggle for decent livelihood, the farmers shared concern about the heavy military presence in the area, including that of foreign forces. This has resulted in the limitation of their right to assemble freely. They are not allowed to meet in public spaces or places where community gatherings would normally be held. These farmers are under constant surveillance resulting in them living in constant fear, harassed, oppressed and interrogated by militiamen (or CAFGU) that were recruited by the military.</p>
<p>The farmers have organised to provide a common voice against the politically and economically influential and powerful Cojuangco family, and to ask for better wages and regular work. None of their demands has been positively answered. Instead, more than 300 of the mill workers have been laid off, thus intensifying the community’s misery. The Cojuangco family continues to ignore orders from the government to distribute land to the farmers. </p>
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<p><strong>Aneth Lwakatare</strong> is a World Council of Churches communications department intern from Tanzania.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticeNews Briefextrajudicial killingsphilippinesWorld NewsThu, 09 Dec 2010 14:13:19 +0000Aneth Lwakatare13741 at http://ekklesia.co.ukLGCM condemns partial UN resolution on victimisationhttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/13648
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<p>Lesbian and gay Christians have condemned a recent vote by members of the UN to remove sexual orientation from a resolution calling for protection of life.</p>
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<p>The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) has strongly condemned the recent vote by member states of the the United Nations to remove sexual orientation from a resolution calling on countries to protect the life of all people and to investigate extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions that are motivated by prejudice and discrimination. </p>
<p>A wide range of other human rights organisations is condemning the failure of governments to publicly oppose the mistreatment of LGBT people. </p>
<p>The resolution urges states to protect the right to life of all people, and includes a call for states to investigate killings based on discriminatory grounds. For the past ten years, the resolution has included sexual orientation in this list of discriminatory grounds. </p>
<p>But many member states refuse to recognise sexual orientation as being a reason for protection and have thus voted for it to be removed from the UN resolution.</p>
<p>the Rev Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of LGCM, declared: "The reference to sexual orientation was part of a list which highlights many of the groups that are targeted by killings - including those belonging to national or ethnic groups, human rights defenders and street children and members of indigenous communities. </p>
<p>"Until now it has been accepted that the mention of sexual orientation is required to draw attention to the fact that this is often the specific reason why individuals are killed. </p>
<p>"The removal of this reference sends a message that people do not merit protection based upon their sexual orientation and will further fuel homophobic hatred and violence. </p>
<p>"As both an LGBT campaigning organisation and a Christian one we strongly condemn this institutional homophobia and acknowledge with sadness that very often it has its roots in Christian belief. We are reminded that the fight for equality and freedom is far from over. We shall continue to stand with others in this essential work," said Ms Ferguson. </p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticeSex and GenderNews Briefextrajudicial killingsLGBTlgcmUK Newsunited nationsFri, 26 Nov 2010 18:10:47 +0000staff writers13648 at http://ekklesia.co.ukDeath and democracy in the Philippineshttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/10432
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<p>The formal democracy of the Philippines disguises a welter of corruption, human rights abuse and extrajudicial killings, says Shay Cullen. The world needs to recognise and respond to what is happening.</p>
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<p>Why would Philippine judges hamper a human rights investigation into a killing field where many human remains are found in Davao, victims allegedly of the infamous death squad? Why would the members of the Commission on Human Rights be charged themselves? Human Rights Watch says local authorities are obstructing the course of justice and investigation into almost a thousand assassinations in the past decade. How can this be in a democracy?</p>
<p>Most people in northern democracies presume that there is a democratically elected government in the Philippines and that human rights will be generally respected and upheld. It also presumes that the rule of law prevails most of the time and that the democratically elected government will respect the provision of treaties, conventions and protocols it has signed. In the Philippines that is not so. </p>
<p>Corruption is widespread and election fraud, cheating, vote-buying and intimidation are common. The same powerful wealthy family dynasties continue to dominate the so-called election process and it is not so much rule by the people or for the people, but the rule of the elite for their own interests. In the Philippines, traditionally, an oligarchy of a few very powerful families rules the country and controls the economy. They place their family members into government positions to advance their own economic interests.</p>
<p>They thus control the congress and other branches of government. Many are incompetent to govern and form a military and police force built around their own relatives, friends and beneficiaries. Therefore the forces are loyal to the patriarch or family head, not to the people. They are selected not on the basis of their professional merit and competence, but on their loyalty to the head of the dynasty. Promotion in the ranks of the military and the police depends on the power of their patron.</p>
<p>Thus, history of street protest shows the police and military shooting dozens of protesters who challenge the ruling elite. The military will stand against the farmers and protect the interests of the powerful land owner. Human rights are cast aside in favour of protecting politicians and the ruling families.</p>
<p>The 'Democratic' Philippines is a myth and the persistence of the death squad and the cover-up is proof of that. Death squads exist in many cities, creating a culture of fear and control and suppressing the people’s protest against injustice and unendurable poverty. </p>
<p>Davao City and the surrounding province is rife with inequality, land exploitation, injustice and widespread poverty. A few vastly wealthy families control the land and the banana industry. The military and police protect their interests against impoverished peasants or militant social and human rights activists demanding land reform, just wages and health care. </p>
<p>Davao is the most prominent example of death squads which kill even street children, although the situation is similar in all other Philippine provinces. It is said that their origin was the ground-swell of protest by organized impoverished farmers and their supporters in 1970 and 1980 This frightened the ruling families who set up the assassination squad to eliminate the protestors. The insurgents countered with their own assassination squads.</p>
<p>There was much killing and violence. The government-backed assassination squads triumphed and a permanent well paid assassination squad was established. </p>
<p>Men dressed in black clothes, equipped with radios, guns and knives and riding motor cycles calmly ride up to suspects and shoot them dead. Up to the present day, the squad operates with impunity. National and International Human rights organizations have continually called for an investigation and for the killers to be brought to justice. </p>
<p>When Human Rights Commission chair, Leila De Lima made such a call this year, she was met with uncooperative justices, officials and citizens. The politicians and police commanders say that rival gangs are killing each other. </p>
<p>Politicians deny the exixtence of the assassination squad but the discovery of many corpses makes that stance untenable. The authorities are desperate to prevent the truth from being revealed. International pressure on the government to end the killings and to disband the assassination squad is growing. If they do, those suffering poverty and injustice may again surface to challenge the 'democratically' elected elite. What a strange democracy this is. </p>
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<p>(c) <strong>Shay Cullen</strong> is a Columban priest and director of the human rights centre PREDA, which is best know for its campaign work and investigations into syndicates and paedophile rings, its rescue and rehabilitation of children, and for bringing successful prosecutions against Filipino and foreign offenders. Visit <a href="http://www.preda.org" title="www.preda.org">www.preda.org</a> for more related articles.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Crime and JusticeNews Briefextrajudicial killingshuman rightsphilippinesFeaturesThu, 22 Oct 2009 08:17:27 +0000Shay Cullen10432 at http://ekklesia.co.ukConviction of nun's killer hailed as victory for Brazil's landlesshttp://ekklesia.co.uk/node/5290
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<p>A wealthy Brazilian rancher has been convicted of ordering the killing high-profile supporter of landless people Sr Dorothy Stang in 2005. But the Pope's silence has disappointed her family and social justice activists.</p>
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<p>A wealthy rancher has been convicted by a jury in the Brazilian state of Para of ordering the killing of advocate and high-profile supporter of landless people, Catholic sister Sr Dorothy Stang.</p>
<p>Grassroots Christian communities and land activists have expressed disappointment that Pope Benedict chose not to highlight the case, which they say shows the church working with the poor ather than lecturing them, during his recent visit. </p>
<p>The 73-year old American-born nun lived in the country for more than 20 years. in the region and had become legendary as a defender of the poor and landless. In February 2005, she was shot six times at point-blank range on a muddy track five hours' drive from her home in Anapu, a sprawling settlement of 30,000 at the edge of the rain forest. </p>
<p>According to the official investigation, the last five bullets hit her when she was already on the ground - showing that the crime was premeditated with malice, declared the prosecutor.</p>
<p>There have been hundreds on killings in Brazil over land disputes in recent years as ranchers have seized land and evicted thousands of peasants to make way for cattle rearing. However this has lead to only a few convictions from around 800 murders.</p>
<p>Last week civil rights, labour and eco-campaigners welcomed the conviction. They point out that it is the first time a large landowner in the region has been found guilty of a serious crime of this kind, even though many others are alleged to have taken place. </p>
<p>Hundreds of people camped in the plaza outside the court while jurors heard the case against Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura. There was jubilation when it was announced that Moura had been sentenced to the maximum prison term of 30 years. </p>
<p>"Maybe all these people will finally have some peace," said Sr Jane Dwyer, who lived with Sr Dorothy in Anapu for almost a decade.</p>
<p>Sr Dorothy's brother David Stang, aged 69, a former Maryknoll missionary, declared: "I just hope this opens up the door to justice in so many other cases of violence against the poor farmers of the Amazon."</p>
<p>The Strang family said that they were also disappointed that Pope Benedict XVI had not mentioned Sr Dorothy during his much-publicised visit to Brazil. </p>
<p>"It would have shown the world the plight of some of the most vulnerable people in this land", a spokeswoman said.</p>
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<!-- google_ad_section_end -->Ecology and EnvironmentGlobalisation and DevelopmentNews Briefbrazilenvironmental actionextrajudicial killingshuman rightsPope Benedict XVISr Dorothy StangWorld NewsMon, 21 May 2007 08:44:57 +0000staff writers5290 at http://ekklesia.co.uk